FIA hits back at Brundle

The FIA said on Friday it will sue the Sunday Times for libel over a column written by Brundle in September, which accused the governing body of a witch-hunt against McLaren.

Yesterday, in a new column published in the Sunday Times, Brundle wrote the lawsuit against him was "a warning sign to other journalists and publications to choose their words carefully" when writing about the FIA's decision not to penalise Renault despite finding the French team guilty of seemingly similar infractions as McLaren's.

And the 48-year-old defended his right to voice his opinion on the matter, given his extensive experience and passion for Formula One.

An FIA spokesman told autosport.com Brundle was "perfectly entitled" to his opinion, but will need to defend his accusations in a court of law.

And the spokesman lamented the timing of Brundle's attack.

"It is regrettable that instead of applauding the achievements of motor sport's international champions, who were recognised this weekend in a Gala prize giving ceremony in Monaco, Martin Brundle chose to continue his campaign against motor sport's governing body," he said.

"Instead of celebrating the results of the closest F1, WRC and WTCC championships for years, Martin has again sought to call into question the integrity of the FIA World Council.

"Of course Martin is perfectly entitled to his opinion but he should try to understand that to accuse the regulator of a worldwide sport of conducting a witch-hunt against one of its licensed competitors is a very serious charge.

"The FIA World Council unanimously decided that this could not be left unchallenged. He will now be given the opportunity to try to substantiate his claims in front of the courts."